Keeping the kids entertained can seem an impossible challenge at the best of times, let alone when you're trying to spend less. Popular weekend activity options like swimming sessions and cinema trips soon add up, and the entrance fees for child-centric venues can be extortionate.
Thankfully, there are plenty of exciting things to do with children from the comfort of your home. This gives you a chance to reduce your borrowing and boost your credit score and save more to safeguard your family's financial health for the future. Try these child-friendly DIY projects which will keep the kids occupied for hours and transform your garden into the perfect playground for summer.
Build a treehouse
Do your children like climbing trees or creating dens where they can hide away and play? Build a treehouse in the garden which can act as their private space that's always within your view.
This might sound complicated, but there are plenty of simple treehouse ideas ranging in difficulty for you to choose from. Research the basic principles of building a treehouse to ensure a sturdy and safe structure, then select the design that works best for your tree shape and garden space.
Craft a toybox
Looking to start with something more simple? Craft a toybox out of spare timber to hold your garden games like footballs, sports sets and frisbees and your beach essentials like buckets and spades.
Younger children can help with measurements and painting the finished box while older kids might like to try their hand at cutting, sanding and assembling – closely monitored by an adult of course!
Construct a game
Once you've built your toybox, why not construct your own garden game?! There's a wide range of simple outdoor games for kids and adults that will be fun for the whole family all summer long.
Throwing activities that can be repeated many times without becoming boring is the best place to start. Add wooden poles or metal rods to a range of objects to create a ring toss course or repurpose an old ladder and play bean bag toss.
Feeling more adventurous? Put together a mini golf course with challenging obstacles or craft a set of vintage pins for lawn bowling!
Create a fairy garden
Do your children like using their imagination? Create a fairy garden in a corner of your outdoor space and watch them make up magical stories about the creatures that live there.
The easiest way to do this is to take a large plant pot with soil and get a variety of decoration options for your children to use. Include delicate flowers, herbs and moss for the foliage and pieces like pebbles and shells for pathways and pools.
You can also help them make miniature wooden decorations to make the garden even more enchanting. This could range from houses, fences and boats to more whimsical objects like toadstools.
